Within the Great Bear sits the most familiar star-pattern of the northern sky — the seven stars the English call the Plough and Americans the Big Dipper — whose two end stars point the way to Polaris and true north. The Bear was once the nymph Callisto, transformed by a jealous goddess and swung up into the heavens by her tail, which is why, the ancients laughed, bears in the sky have such long ones. The great signpost of the night.

Maker: after Bayer / Hevelius / Flamsteed
Date: engraved 16th–18th c.
Medium of the original: Plate
Original held by: The great celestial atlases · Linda Hall Library
Credit: The great celestial atlases · Linda Hall Library
Rights: Public domain, verified
Catalogue number: PA-00967

As chosen: 20 x 16 in, art print, classic frame
Picture	20 x 16 in
Outside size	21.6 x 17.6 in
Depth	0.9 in (22 mm)
Weight	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: shipped weight per size and frame]]
Hanging	[[REAL PROOF NEEDED: hanging hardware Prodigi fits to this frame]]
Material	Enhanced matte art paper, 200 gsm; acrylic glazing
Made in	Charlotte, North Carolina, by Prodigi

Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.

How the print check works

Sizes offered
Size	dpi	Grade	How it fits
10 x 8 in	331	Excellent	Trimmed 3.1%
14 x 11 in	240	Excellent	Trimmed 1.4%
16 x 12 in	213	Excellent	Trimmed 3.2%
20 x 16 in	165	Good	Trimmed 3.1%

Sizes withheld
Size	Why
12 x 8 in	Wrong shape: a 14% crop
18 x 12 in	Wrong shape: a 14% crop
24 x 16 in	Wrong shape: a 14% crop
24 x 18 in	142 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
30 x 20 in	Wrong shape: a 14% crop
30 x 24 in	110 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
36 x 24 in	Wrong shape: a 14% crop
40 x 30 in	85 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
48 x 36 in	71 dpi; a historical scan is never enlarged
60 x 40 in	Wrong shape: a 14% crop

Scanned

2026-10-07

Master file

3,418 x 2,649 px, srgb

Tone

Darks 188, lights 228 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark

Colour

0% vivid

Sharpness

39.11

Notes

Narrow tonal range (14 L*): prints soft and even, as the original reads
Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned

Shipping for this piece to a US address is $25.90, the print room’s own rate, charged per piece. Checkout shows the total before you pay.

Every piece is printed after you order it, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and ships from there. For now we ship to US addresses only.

A piece that arrives damaged, misprinted or in the wrong size is replaced at our cost. The details: shipping and returns and replacements.